St. Patrick's Day Parades

Have Everyone Seeing Green

March 13, 1994|By PHIL DAVIS Staff Writer

Decked out in a vibrant green velvet suit and a plastic bowler hat, Rob Bransen clutched his daughter's hand and smiled broadly as he strolled down the center of Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach on Saturday.

"I've been saving it for years," he said of the visually stimulating suit. "Me mother was Irish."

Saturday's 26th annual St. Patrick's parade through downtown Delray Beach proved to be the perfect occasion. The Delray Beach pub owner and his daughter, Briony, 3, who also wore a green outfit, fit right in.

They also would have been welcome in West Palm Beach, where thousands flocked to Flagler Drive for the Irish Fest. The festival features Irish bands, food, and arts and crafts. The Irish Fest continues today at noon. Admission is $6, and children under 13 get in free.

But not everything was green. The cotton candy was still pink. And around the middle of the parade, the crowd was treated to the bluesy sounds of the Knucklebusters, who were on a float promoting a Saturday afternoon Blues Fest in Delray Beach.

The lead in the parade was reserved for the piglet, a tradition that dates back to the first event 26 years ago. Back then, it was just one man and a green piglet.

The event now includes bagpipers, bands and wild characters. The pig is no longer dyed green beacause of a protest by animal rights activists. This year he wore a green leash.

Paul Cipolla, a self-described "good Italian Irishman," said it's the ninth year he's been on a float in the parade with his family and friends. This year the float, a flatbed semitrailer rig, featured beer-drinking angels and even had green portable toilets "It's always been a good time," he said.

In West Palm Beach, a large crowd listened to one of the last South Florida performances by the Wolfe Tones, an Irish band popular with locals. The band is retiring after 30 years.

Thirty bands, including American acts like The Mamas and the Papas, are scheduled to play the event, which is expected to draw up to 20,000 people in three days.

The festival was bustling Saturday afternoon. People clustered around food booths offering everything from Italian sausage to corned beef and cabbage, an Irish favorite. Vendors offered everything from a shamrock-shaped thermometer to Irish Republican Army T-shirts.

Bea Page, of Pompano Beach, was collecting signatures urging President Clinton to provide a peaceful mediator to help resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland.

"We're trying to educate the public about Northern Ireland," Page said. "Ireland is England's first and last colony, you know. President Clinton has promised to send a peace envoy [to Ireland) and he hasn't yet."

In another booth, Laura Foley of Fort Lauderdale was selling a massive array of Irish wares - from buttons to green suspenders with little shamrocks on them. She said Ireland has a special place in many people's hearts.

"Everybody has somebody or knows somebody from Ireland," she said. "We're everywhere."